GUMBO GURU: Charlotte’s Country Kitchen
May 5, 2015
Wallace Thibodaux
May 13, 2015
Lafourche Parish has eyes in the sky after purchasing three entry-level drones that shoot high-definition video.
But the Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates items in the air, has yet to clear them for takeoff.
According to the FAA, Lafourche Parish has not yet been authorized to operate their drones.
“We can’t find any indication that Lafourche Parish has an authorization from the FAA to operate their unmanned aircraft,” said FAA Spokesman Les Dorr in an email. “One of our aviation safety inspectors will reach out to the parish government to discuss their situation.”
One of the drones was used to survey damage after an F1 tornado tore through Chackbay last Monday, a use parish officials said is among planned employments. Other planned uses include applications for criminal investigation and monitoring of coastal erosion, because the drones can go to places not accessible to humans.
“It was an idea that was born from our emergency preparedness guys,” said Lafourche Parish Administrator Archie Chaisson.
He said Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Chris Boudreaux and Assistant Director Eric Benoit had gone to a state fire marshal’s convention and saw one demonstrated there.
The parish purchased three DJI Phantom 2 Vision+® quadcopters at a cost of $2,700 apiece in early November. They measure approximately 16 inches across and 12 inches in height, resembling four-rotor toy helicopters. The model retails on the Chinese-based manufacturer’s Web site for $1,099.
A quadcopter is a small, unmanned aircraft with four propellers that is remote-controlled.
Chaisson said the price tag was higher than the list because protective cases, extra batteries and extra rotors were purchased.
“It’s relatively cheap in the grand scheme of things,” Chaisson said. “Overtime, it’s paid for itself.”
Chaisson said the drones have saved a couple thousand dollars this year alone just in the coastal budget because he doesn’t have to rent an airplane to survey coastal restoration projects.
The costs of renting an airplane include not only the plane, but also the pilot and the fuel, which combined come to hundreds of dollars per hour.
“I can take the boat we already have and go out and launch this drone and be done with it in a matter of seconds versus having to spend a couple hours in the air flying in circles taking pictures and that sort of thing,” Chaisson said.
Parish officials recently used one of the drones to search for a shoplifter in a sugarcane field next to the government office building in Mathews. Unfortunately, the suspect still managed to escape, Chaison said.
There is a mutual aid agreement between the different entities of Lafourche Parish government, and the drones are available for all of them to use.
The Federal Aviation Administration has been rushing to establish rules governing drone flight as the technology has evolved within the last few years. The FAA just proposed a new set of guidelines for drone flight on February 15.
The FAA guidelines are extensive and include requirements that drones weight no more than 55 pounds and be flown within the operator’s line of sight. Also, the drone cannot be flown above 500 feet. They are not flown over people not involved with the operation.
Guidelines also require operators to be tested and certified by the FAA.
The reason the FAA hasn’t given Lafourche the green light to catch some air is because they haven’t completed their application online yet. Completed applications are typically processed within 60 days, according to the FAA’s website.
Responding to questions about privacy, Boudreaux stressed that the drone would not be used to invade people’s personal airspace.
“It’s for emergencies,” Boudreaux said. “We’re not looking to see what people are doing in their yards.”
Archie Chaisson, Lafourche Parish administrator, demonstrates one of Lafourche Parish’s three new quadcopters. The drones have already been used to survey tornado damage and coastal erosion.
